The other side of/from the bridge

Anant per sobre del Golden Gate Bridge tens un accident de cotxe. Et dónes compte que has oblidat el mòbil a casa, i necessites demanar ajuda ràpidament. Busques un telèfon d'emergència al pont. Quan el trobes fas la trucada. El telèfon sona. Primer to. Segon to. Tercer to.

- Hola?
- Senyoreta, necessito ajuda! He tingut un accident!
- D'acord, no desesperi. La vida és meravellosa i aquest accident no ha de significar el seu final...
- Però què...!!?

Has trucat des del telèfon equivocat, amic meu...

Desafortunadament, una mitjana d'una persona cada dos setmanes es treu la vida saltant des del Golden Gate Bridge. I no només els locals, sinò que ve gent de tot el país només per fer això. De fet, per aquells que teniu el cor de pedra, hi ha un famòs documental sobre el tema anomenat The Bridge (El pont).
Aquesta és la raó per la que hi ha un nombre significatiu de telèfons per tot el pont. I també per mantenir un alt control sobre les hores de tancament del pont i les possibilitats del creuar-lo de nit.

Vam passar pel pont amb bicicleta en el nostre camí cap a Sausalito. Impressionant. Segur que repeteixo.




Going over the Golden Gate Bridge you have a car accident. You realize you forgot your cell phone at home, and you need to ask for help quickly. You look for an emergency phone on the bridge. When you find it you make an emergency call. The phone rings. First tone. Second tone. Third tone.

- Hello?
- Ma'am, I need help! I've got an accident!
- Ok. Don't desperate. The live is beautiful and this accident don't have to be the end of this one...
- What the..!!?

You made a call from the wrong phone, my friend...

Unfortunately, an average of one person each two weeks kills himself jumping from Golden Gate Bridge. And not only locals, but people from all the country come to SF only for this. Actually, for those who have a heart of stone, there is a famous documentary about it called The Bridge.

That is the reason for put in a significant quantity of phones throughout the bridge. And also for maintaining such level of control about the closed times of the bridge and the chance to cross it at night.

We went over the bridge by bike in our way to Sausalito. Impressive. It's sure I'll repeat.

I play football. Oh sorry, soccer!

Fa dos setmanes vaig començar a jugar a una lliga de futbol. 11 contra 11. Ja quasi no recordo quan jo jugava en un equip d'11. Fa quasi deu anys. He descobert (de nou) que cansa. Deixeu-me que us expliqui un parell de coses sobre el futbol no competitiu a EEUU (almenys a SF).

Vaig donar-me d'alta al nivell mig-alt. Jo pensava que podria ser massa alt: error. Sinò no s'explica que juguessim 8 contra 11+6 i guanyessim.
Crec que quan els americans estaven decidint quins serien els esports de contacte, es van aturar just abans d'arribar al futbol. Ara entenc perquè no és popular aquí. Només per a la vostra informació, jugar amb espinilleres és obligatori. No està permés jugar sense en cap cas. I el pitjor de tot: fer "segades" és SEMPRE falta. Fins i tot quan només toques la pilota i l'altre jugador és a metre i mig de tu. És molt complicat jugar quan pràcticament no pots tocar al contrari.

Sigui com sigui, estem guanyant tots els partits (el que és una nova experiència per a mi) i estic fent relacions amb autòctons. Pel pròxim partit hauria com a mínim aprendre'm els noms de les posicions dels jugadors en el camp i el vocabulari bàsic de futbol en anglés.




Two weeks ago I started to play in a football -oh, sorry- soccer league. 11 vs 11. I barely remember when I played in a 11 team. It was almost ten years ago. I've figured out (again) that it tires. Let me tell you a couple of things about the non-competitive soccer in USA (at least in SF).

I signed up for upper-intermediate level. I thought it maight be too high: mistake. There's not another way to explain that we played 8 against 11+6 and we won. I think that when the americans decided which will be the contact sports, they stopped just before get to soccer. Now I understand why soccer isn't popular here. Just FYI, playing with shinguards is a must. You aren't allowed to play without in any case. And the worst of all: slidetackling is ALWAYS fault. Even when you only touch the ball and the other player is 5 feet from you. It's very difficult to play when you can barely touch the oponent.

Anyway, we are winning all the games (which is a new experience for me) and I'm getting relations with Native American people. For the next match, I should at least learn the noun of each player position on the pitch and the basic English vocab in football -oh, sorry- soccer.